Glass and Window Repair in Kelburn, Wellington

Kelburn is high, exposed and directly in the path of the northerly coming through the Cook Strait gap. The Kelburn weather station has been recording here since 1928 and the readings tell the story. Wellington averages 173 days a year with gusts over 60 km/h, and on a ridge site the local acceleration over the terrain makes that worse. It changes what we specify here compared to a sheltered street on the flat.

Wind zone is not a formality on this ridge

Wellington City Council publishes a wind zone map that runs from Low through to Specific Design. Ridge and crest sites like much of Kelburn sit in the upper bands, and windows are tested to NZS 4211 against those pressures. An Extra High rating covers site wind speeds up to 55 metres per second.

In practice that means thicker glass, more fixings and different flashing detail than the same window would need in a sheltered suburb. We check the zone for the address before ordering rather than quoting a standard unit and hoping.

What the wind actually breaks up here

Rarely the glass on its own. A gust catches a sash left on the latch, the friction stay bends or snaps, and the sash swings through the frame. Or something loose in a neighbouring section arrives side on.

So when we replace glass on a Kelburn job we look hard at the hardware, and we fit restrictor stays on exposed elevations as a matter of course. Replacing a pane and leaving the stay that let it happen just means we are back next winter.

Draughts on a hilltop villa

An unsealed double hung sash has a continuous gap the full width of the window. On a sheltered street you barely notice it. On a Kelburn ridge in a northerly you can feel it from the middle of the room, and the sash rattles all night.

Brush pile seals routed into the sash edge close it without changing anything you can see, and the window still slides. It is the cheapest thing on our price list and it makes the biggest difference to how a house up here feels.

What we get called out for in Kelburn

• Window Repair in Kelburn, diagnosed before anything is quoted, not after.
• Glass Repair in Kelburn, common sizes measured and glazed in 24 to 48 hours.
• Leaking Window Repair in Kelburn, water tested bottom up until the leak shows itself.
• Window Condensation Solutions in Kelburn, tells you whether the glass, the frame or the room is the problem.
• Healthy Homes Window Compliance in Kelburn, openable area measured room by room against the 5 percent rule.

Kelburn sits on the same run as Thorndon, Karori and Brooklyn, so we are usually in the area anyway.